The Eight Pillars of Fabula Ultima

On page 14, the core concept is presented: Fabula Ultima’s Core Rulebook discusses the eight pillars that uphold its entire game experience. This Atlas builds on those elements in its own unique way.

ANCIENT RUINS AND HARSH LANDS

This pillar plays an important role in the natural fantasy style: its protagonists often find themselves traversing vast uninhabited regions, where ground and roots merge with millennia-old ruins of the past.

Thematic Detail Examples:

The wind blows strong among the cavities of the jungle trees. Rumor has it that, in the past, a skilled navigator used the thermal updrafts to fly over the hunting grounds of the dynaguars and reach the Shattered City.
The Orwie river’s spring is lost among the fog and the crevices of the Eastern Glacier. Its many waterfalls run between the colossal remains of the Stone Guardians that, according to legends, hold up the sky and prevent the stars from falling.
The narrow strip of land connecting the Sparrow Coast to the archipelago can be crossed only at low tide, when the metal skeletons of the Airship Cemetery emerge from the waters and the forebearers’ machines awaken.

A WORLD IN PERIL

In natural fantasy worlds, humanity is defined by its relationship to the creatures of wilderness: some coexist with them, others hunt them for food or protection.

Far more dangerous are those creatures born of ancient curses and experiments, not to mention any antagonists who want to make an improper or self-serving use of magic and technology from the past.

Key Conflicts:

Eager to gain the approval of the city and its Council, a young inventor decides to unearth and reactivate an ancient alchemical machine, unaware that its magical vibrations will once again lure the Calamity Serpent.
One baby out of seven is born with a red horn sprouting from its forehead; flowers bloom without color, waters boil, and fire lashes out against those who attempt to wield it.
Oracles claim that the cinder giant, whose spirit was dismembered and imprisoned in the temple of the Forbidden Valley so that humanity could tame fire and build forges, is finally enacting their revenge.